FresnoBeehive.com

I’m going to Disneyland in October, two weeks before Halloween. I like Halloween, mostly because I like fall and pumpkins and scary movies, and in recent years Disneyland has really amped up their Halloween offerings. I’m really looking forward to everything this Disneyland trip has to offer, except one thing: the Haunted Mansion.

But, Heather, you’re thinking (those of you who are still reading), that makes no sense. You like scary things at Halloween, and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is scary. It’s made for Halloween! Ahhh, says I, there’s where you’re wrong. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is apparently made for Christmas, because today the attraction closed down to prepare for Haunted Mansion Holiday, when Jack Skellington and the crew from the Tim Burton movie The Nightmare Before Christmas take over the mansion for Christmas-y fun.

Haunted Mansion Holiday inhabits the Mansion every year starting in September, and stays that way until early January. Now in its 11th year, HMH is very popular with guests. I like it. I like it a lot. At Christmas.

The thing is, although Jack the Pumpkin King is from Halloween Town, HMH is all about his foray into the world of Christmas. The bells, the snow, the gingerbread house — most of the attraction is Christmas-themed, with little in the way of Halloween. You know what would make a fantastic Halloween-themed attraction, though? The original Haunted Mansion.

I like Jack Skellington. I just don’t want to see him until, say, mid-November, when Christmas time at Disneyland is in full swing. Is HMH going to ruin my trip in October? Of course not. But I sure will miss the original Mansion, which I love and haven’t seen in my last three trips to the park thanks to HMH and its overlay closures.

Four months of Jack is too much of a good thing, Disneyland. Bring back the 999 happy haunts who should take their frightful place (*snicker*) at the head of the Halloween table.